Don’t casually pass over food that is Kosher for Passover

Time to stock up!

Whether you are dealing with food allergies, are a vegan, have  special diet for celiac disease, or just simply like some tasty food, Kosher for Passover may offer a heaven of tasty food choices.

This time of the year is one of my favorite times of the year for discovering tasty baked goods or revisiting some known ones.  The Kosher diet is great for offering dairy free alternatives (Kosher dietary law does not allow the consumption of meat with dairy-there is a great discussion on this in the movie,  “The Believer”).  Around Passover, there is no consumption of certain types of foods (again, you can find additional information on this on line) – this adds all kinds of gluten and soy free choices.  Although we no longer have to avoid gluten and soy for my son, it’s nice to not overload on the ingredients.  Stores around this time of the year also display more Kosher items.  A few years ago, when my son had to avoid wheat and soy, I would drive weekly to the Hungarian Kosher Store (one hour each way) so we could stock up on all kinds of goodies.  They got to know us.  Recently I haven’t had time to drive up as much, but have been able to find some great Kosher choices in stores closer to me (although not as much as the Hungarian Kosher Store).

My latest discovery (from Sunset Foods) is “Z Best Bakery” baked goods.  This is a nut free bakery (so no cross contamination) and there is NO dairy in their products.  Chocolate Coffee cake, challah rolls, challah hot dog buns and hamburger rolls, Italian bread, marble rye bread (and more) all made in a nut free, dairy free bakery.  So far, I had to bake all the bread for my son.  Now he can have a burger with a commercially made hamburger bun, or a chocolate coffee cake.  Today I bought a box of chocolate chip mandel ….this is like biscotti (which we can’t have because they are made in a facility with nuts).

Butter free pound cake....nut free!

Some of the Kosher items that are great for special diets:

·      Osem mini Mandel rings…great additions to any soup

·      Truly dairy free whipping creams that you can add to your pies etc..

·      A nutella like nut/dairy free spread I’ve found a few years ago

·      Hammentaschen - kolachky like dessert made free of flour and dairy

·      Dairy free ranch dressing

·      Bread crumbs (no dairy contamination because of the no meat with dairy mix)

Discovering Z Best Baked Goods....a huge variety

The display at Sunset Foods

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Next time you are in the store, check out the Kosher for Passover section.  You will find all kinds of goodies.  This time of the year is a gold mine for special diets.

Are food allergies, diets and being different causing alienation? Revisited

About a year ago, I blogged about the alienation that results from food allergies and special diets.  So what, if any, changes have I observed since last year?

I think I’ve noticed more of an ego issue with bad food choices people make.  Instead of saying, “bad food choices will lead to bad health consequences, maybe I should learn and alter my habits a bit,” (which seems like a step in the right direction if your goal is not to get chronic disease), it’s become an ‘us vs. them’ climate.

I’ve had a lot of positive comments on my blog.  “Thanks for making us more aware and sharing tips and tricks on how to eat healthier and tastier food.”  Such comments are very encouraging.  My personal goal this year is to spend time and effort only on activities that make a difference.  Time is a scarce resource.  So I’m thrilled that there are people out there that want to improve their lives and just need a little help as they acquire awareness (as I did when I learned all this-it was a fulltime job to figure out how to cook with healthy ingredients, what healthy ingredients even are,  and have the food taste great). 

But, now I sense some of the isolation that people with food allergies, celiac disease, and other special diets face.  It’s as if I came out of the closet – and now it’s public that I refuse to eat in a state of unconsciousness and succumb to peer pressure. 

Surely genetics plays a role in our health.  But if I don’t feed my child processed mac and cheese and sodium nitrite hot dogs every day with a generous helping of factory farmed meat and processed chemicals…. purely from a probabilistic standpoint, the likelihood of him acquiring some chronic disease is reduced.  No guarantees…but at least I’m trying to influence the outcome.  There is no need for me to restate all the great research that one can simply Google (China Study, Reversing Heart Disease, etc.).  Same goes for me, while I can still improve (e.g., be more disciplined about working out), I indulge in conscious eating and choices.  “Conscious Eating” – a term Michael Pollan coined.  Yet, conscious eating is looked down upon by a lot of people.  They continue to say, “I have the right to eat xyz.”   Yes, they have the right, but they also increase health costs for the rest of us.  And again, genetics already plays a role here. 

So my goal with the food related aspect of my blog continues-enable “conscious eating” that doesn’t mean you have to eat cardboard.  Not everything that tastes great has to lead to chronic diseases. Yes, it’s more effort, but most worthwhile things in life are. Is it convenient?  Not for me, full time career, single motherhood and eternal commute would make great excuses for not doing it.  But again, spend time on things that make a difference.


Follow me on Twitter:  JuliannaJ9

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Buche De Noel-it's not just a pretty name

Do I thrive on stress and multitasking?

2011 concluded and as I look back on this blog, I have one comment:  I didn’t blog enough.

As I reflect on why I didn’t blog-it’s because for each entry I wanted to have all the photos, the story, and the exact recipe with all the key ingredients/substitutions.  I was too busy to make such complete entries as frequently as I would like.

So here’s my ‘incomplete’ entry – more to follow later.

For years I loved the way “Buche de Noel” sounds and looks.  Yes,  I could have bought a ready made one, but then my son wouldn’t be able to eat it due to cross contamination and allergens.  Even before his food allergies, I chose not to buy one because I knew the ingredients weren’t the best.

So I finally made it…. and it tastes as good as it looks and sounds.

As the first step, I watched the hilarious Julia Child video on how to make it (with the falling stump-I love her casual attitude when things don’t go perfectly).  But she didn’t cover the rolling part.  I researched at least 10 different recipes for ingredients, baking technique and rolling technique (there are many).

Mostly, this Yule Log (another name for it) is like my holiday mocha cake (prior blog entry).  I separate the eggs the same way I do for my cakes and the frosting was identical to my mocha frosting (except I added a bit of Kahlua).  But the rolling in towels and so forth gets a bit tricky (or at least stressful).  I always say holidays are not the time to experiment, but then I always do. Decorating the Buche de Noel was very easy.  So again, I tried to add a few new dishes to my holiday repertoire.    While creating new recipes and food items around the holidays is a bit stressful (what if it doesn’t work-disaster), it does provide me with some sort of accomplishment.

Apparently stress may be a killer, but it also fuels one’s creativity in all areas.

As usual I didn’t write the recipe and technique down (and I really should for something I make a few times a year).  So I will add this at a later time.  I’ve even found my blog useful to look up my own recipes. I also have many more to add from the recent holidays.


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Great Finds

Nutella no more

I’m always looking for something new, something tasty and something that won’t cause health issues and always something that maybe replaces a food that Jordan lost due to allergies.  Here is a recent mix of recent favorite finds

No nuts, not dairy and not hydrogenated NUTELLA like

One of the things my son misses the most is Nutella.  But due to his dairy and nut allergies it’s not even a possibility. 

This one took a long time to find.  But this is safe for his allergies and is a vegan Nutella like item as well (no dairy). 

It’s a Kosher PARVE chocolate spread that I found in the kosher section of  Garden Fresh.  I first discovered it at a kosher store when I was shopping for wheat/soy free items.  When my son was off of wheat/soy-Kosher for Passover was a great option for his diet.  These items were mostly available around Passover.  The Kosher diet actually lends itself nicely to a diet that needs to cater to food allergies (and various dairy free options).  You can find out more by researching Kosher diet, but in a Kosher diet you cannot mix meat and dairy. This is ideal for us. 

Recently I did try Nutella-the fact is that it wasn’t as good as I remember.  I like the flavor of rich dark chocolate and don’t like that flavor of milk chocolate.  Nutella tasted too sweet and diluted.  It’s what we are used to.  Maybe by now they have a dark chocolate version.  But as much as I love hazelnuts, I can’t bring them in the house due to my son’s allergies.  This is a great substitute for Nutella.  It would be great for crepes.  My son loves it over white bread (homemade).  Make sure you get the PARVE version (there is a non PARVE version that has dairy).

 Wasabi without Sushi

This snack is for me.  For anyone that loves wasabi , this is a nice way to get the wasabi flavor with a rice cracker.  As you can tell by the label, not fried, nothing hydrogenated.  It’s a flavorful snack.  It is made in a facility with nuts, so only I eat this one.

Smart, tast and easy

This is another quick little snack.  I love the flavor of wings.  But we don’t go out for wings anymore, and I actually like the flavor more than the meat.  It’s high in protein, not fat and very easy to make.  The only bad part is that so far I can only find this in one store (Woodman’s) - safe for my son's allergies.

Taco Tuesday-one more version

Taco Tuesday-sometimes I use vegan chorizo or a non processed chorizo (see prior blog on tacos).  Recently Whole Foods was sold out of both (I didn’t realize this blog had that many readers - J).  So I picked up some low fat, kosher ground turkey instead.  I didn’t expect this to taste so delicious.  I’ve made turkey tacos before, but the flavor of this meat is great.  It doesn’t have the gross side taste.  There really is a difference.

Ancient wheat from Tuscany

These cookies are great and addictive.  But they are not your typical overprocessed cookies.  Also, they are not too sweet as most American cookies are. They are made with Einkorn wheat (not over processed wheat).  Here is the ingredient list:

Organic Einkorn Flour, Organic Cane Sugar, Organic Palm Fruit Oil, Organic Eggs, Organic Cocoa, Leavening (Monocalcium Phosphate, Baking Soda), Salt.
Contains wheat and eggs.

The cookies are crafted in Italy.  Although they are made in a facility they state:

 “We use milk, tree nuts and soy in our facility. Strict sanitary practices and batch testing prevent cross-contamination.”

They also make gluten free cookies.  So far, I’ve only found these at Whole Foods.  They also have an informative website.

This was the only food I could find for lunch at work....so it was a great find....at work.




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Heavenly Homemade Hummus

run food processor and drop garlic cloves in

One lemon is usually enough...also use a very high quality olive oil (you do get what you pay for)

Fine tune as you process

Add fresh lemon juice 
(DO NOT USE 'realemon' bottled lemon juice)

The whipped/creamy consistency that we like

My 11 year old recipe from Bon Appetit magazine that I've fine tuned

drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle
with some authentic paprika

serve (again, drizzle with EVOO and paprika sprinkle)
with some hot pita bread
(don't serve with cold pita bread)

Hummus is one of the healthiest (and even cheap) foods – yet it’s so good and there is nothing to feel guilty about. 

I don’t like store bought ones-they taste dry and not very flavorful.  Fresh (no more than two days old) homemade hummus is the best.  Many Middle Eastern restaurants make their own hummus and the fresh taste is just like homemade.  I prefer a fairly whipped/creamy consistency for hummus-this allows the subtle flavors to be showcased and not be overcome by a dry texture.

Many people like to make variations of this.  I like the old fashioned, traditional hummus.  Some cultures make it with fava beans  also.

Hummus Recipe

2 15 ½ ounce cans of garbanzo beans drained (save a little water for part of the water for mixing (or one 29 ounce can)

½ cup water (mixed with garbanzo bean can liquid)-will add more later (to taste)

½ cup tahini  (it helps to bring tahini to room temperature so you add a consistent mix of this as it tends to separate when refrigerated)

½ cup (but will add more) Extra Virgin Olive Oil (you really get what you pay for with olive oil-the cheap extra virgin olive oils aren’t even real-caveat emptor)

1 heaping teaspoon of ground cumin

3 cloves of garlic

1 lemon

Run garlic through food processor (have the food processor running and throw in garlic cloves-turn off when all crushed).

Put garbanzo beans along with all other ingredients, pulse first and then run food processor for a few minutes.  At this point you will need to fine tune this recipe. As I mentioned,  I like hummus that has a slightly whipped consistency (many restaurants and store bought ones are too dense and the flavor beyond the garbanzo beans doesn’t come through).  I add extra virgin olive oil as the food processor runs and a little more water.  Then I add the lemon juice (roll the lemons before squeezing – this makes it easier to squeeze the juice out).  If after adding the lemon juice it’s still too dense, add a little more extra virgin olive oil and a bit water (again the consistency is a matter of preference).

Transfer to serving plates/bowl-drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle a bit of real Hungarian paprika on it (this is how most middle eastern restaurants serve it).  Serve with some warmed up pita bread (the fresher the better).

Hummus is an extremely healthy dish. Another side benefit of homemade hummus for us is that Jordan can eat it! It's not cross contaminated with dairy, nuts, etc.

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Google Rolls Out New Search Tool for Recipes

Google Rolls Out New Search Tool for Recipes

This is going to make searching for recipes easier. Typically, when I develop a new recipe I search through quite a few. I narrow it down to the top 3-4 and then develop a recipe from that. Since I'm trying to avoid some ingredients (e.g., dairy), I can simply check 'no.' I tried this with Chicken Biryani which is typically made with yogurt. By check 'no' for yogurt I was able to find recipes without. This makes search a lot easier. Of course google can really fine tune some advertising from this. If I continually check 'no' to dairy, I'll be more likely to find non dairy ads.  


You can also check 'yes' for some ingredients.  For example, I searched for french silk pie and I checked 'yes' for tofu.  So I got the non dairy versions.

This will really help with recipe search/development.

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Love Italian Seitan, no exorcism needed

A quick white wine sauce pasta

Seitan is a wheat/soy based  ‘vegetarian meat.’  Often used by Buddhists (mock duck), Japan, and other Asian cuisines as well as with the macrobiotic movement in the U.S.  If you can’t have wheat in your diet, the other alternatives are of course the sausage or a really well prepared tofu (not straight out of the package).  Seitan is not fattening or artery clogging and it is a lot easier to prepare than sausage.  I think it will be one of my ‘convenience foods.’  I included the label at the end of this blog so you can see the nutrition information.  Italian Sausage style seitan is available at Whole Foods.  I don’t recall if it is available at Woodman’s or not. 

My diet is not vegetarian or vegan, but I’m beginning to like this Italian Sausage style seitan more than Italian sausage.  Italian sausage has great seasonings and texture.  For years I’ve made slowly simmered pasta sauces with it Italian sausage.  Usually, for Italian sausage, I would crumble it and fry out the fat and then add to whatever dish I was making.   I’m finding that I can get that great flavor (without the fat) in my sauces when I use this Italian Sausage Style Seitan.  I am actually beginning to like it more because its texture is more a la dente than the sausage texture.  It is also much faster to prepare than the sausage.  I don’t have to plan ahead (defrost or buy fresh) and I don’t need to spend time frying out the grease.  It is also a great substitute for people who chose not to eat meat or even pork.

Here is a quick pasta recipe that I threw together in no time.  I got a late start with dinner today and didn’t have time for a long preparation. 

For this dish I love the way the seitan works its way into the little shells

Ingredients:

16 oz of Conchieglie –shell shaped (I prefer organic-seems to taste more robust-but not a requirement)

½ c. extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp. dried basil (if fresh is not available)

1.5 tsp. or dried oregano (if fresh is not available)

1 cup white wine (I used Gato Negro Sauvignon Blanc 2010 from Chile-reasonably priced for cooking)

½ cup soup stock (if not vegan, then chicken, if vegetarian-than vegetable, I use organic free range soup stock 9if fresh is not available)

6 cloves of garlic mashed (or chopped in a food processor)

2 yellow peppers diced

about a medium head of brocolli or 2/3 head of large on with flowerets chopped off

Note:  you can add or substitute other vegetables-this is what I had on hand today and given all the ice we have ,  I was not in the mood to go out grocery shop

Heat olive oil and start sautéing the broccoli flowerets on medium heat. 

Sauté for approximately 5 minutes

Add the diced yellow peppers-sauté for about 3-4 minutes

Add chopped garlic and sauté for another minute

Crumble the seitan and sauté for a couple of minutes

Add white wine and bring to a boil

Add stock

Simmer opened for about 5-8 minutes

Prepare the pasta in the meantime (this dish is easy , so I multitasked)

Stir pasta into the sautéed mixture.  Make sure it is blended well.  The seitan and sauce will work their way into the shells.

I mostly improvise my recipes, so if you want to vary this with other vegetables, it should work fine.

The sauce is very light and tasty (not oily).  I really like the flavor of this sauce and it combines nicely with the vegetables.  No flavor dominates.  I've had people insist that this dish has Italian sausage. They only believe me (sort of) when I show them the package of Italian Sausage seitan.

Our bodies can tell the difference between sausage and seitan

the sauce and seitan work their way into the shells

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Valentine's Days and Hearts

Broken hearts like this are good

Although I like to go out for quiet dinners, I don’t ignore my children for this day.

Some say it’s a Hallmark holiday…some go all out for this.  I view it as another day to make others feel somewhat special.

This year I got to go out on Sunday and with Valentine’s Day being a Monday (work day) it seemed better to stay home and celebrate.

After a long day at work (along with my long commute), I decided to make sure that we have a cookie cake (heart shaped).  So with Jordan’s help I made the cookie dough into a heart shaped pan.  Because this has been a hectic year so far, I’ve had a few mishaps.  I couldn’t find my Wilton pastry bags for decorating.  So instead, I used a ziplock bags with the usual Wilton tips.  I also wasn’t in the mood for adding color (even natural…..boiled beets make the best Valentine’s Day colors), I just kept it white.   Various events of the evening led to a real late decorating session, so I rushed through the whole thing….but it still looks nice.  Even more important-the cake/frosting tastes phenomenal.  Cookies with frosting are the best.  Another great aspect of course-it is dairy free and is made with not the super processed ingredients.

The cookie recipe is the cookie dough recipe in an earlier blog


http://blogtothenextone.blogspot.com/2011/01/chocolate-chip-cookies-that-wont-clog.html

 and the frosting is similar to my mocha frosting.

Decorating Frosting

3 cups of powder sugar

1.5 cups Spectrum Organic shortening

1 tsp vanilla

(no soy milk or coconut milk-we need a drier frosting for decorating)


Slowly add the sugar to Spectrum and beat until whipped, add the vanilla.

Gifts, dinner and cookie cake done without any major mishaps.  For a long day, that sounds like an accomplishment.

Decided to be quick and keep it white...plus had to use some last minute pastry bags

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Well deserved brownies after shoveling out of the blizzard (and no artery clogging)

The essential ingredients-dairy and artery clog free

 After trying to shovel our way out of 20" of snow, I had a serious craving for brownies. Fortunately brownies of convenience are out of the question for me due to Jordan’s food allergies (dairy or made in a facility with nuts).  So I’ve been experimenting with some brownie recipes over the past few years.  Even pre EE and food allergy days, I really didn’t want to use a brownie mix.  Most recipes of course call for butter.  Not an option here anymore.  Even if Jordan wasn’t allergic to dairy, I would no longer use butter in my cooking.  Necessity is the mother of invention.  I learned how to get rich creamy flavor without butter.  I’ve sometimes referred to myself as the “Paula Dean of soy butter” (without the weight, wealth and the southern accent).  For some reason we all love a creamy texture.  So after shoveling, I decided to make some brownies.  My constraints were:  I will only make it with Droste cocoa powder (childhood favorite), will not use over processed sugar or over processed flour-and of course it needs to be dairy free.

I actually found a great Alton Brown recipe and converted it with my constraints/choices.

We ended up with delicious brownies and did not increase our chance of heart disease. 

Here are some interesting quotes on why even if you aren’t allergic to dairy, you would make these substitutions.

"...There's a lot of money in the Western diet. The more you process any food, the more profitable it becomes. The healthcare industry makes more money treating chronic diseases (which account for three quarters of the $2 trillion plus we spend each year on health care in this country) than preventing them. "

—      — Michael Pollan (Food Rules: An Eater's Manual)

Whatever I make, I keep this in mind and use the least processed ingredients.  Also,

"You are what you eat eats."

—   Michael Pollan (In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto)

And since I’m not a vegan at this time, I buy the cage free eggs (more nutritious…. because the chicken’s diet is reflected in the eggs nutrition value).  If you are a vegan, then you can use an egg substitution.  When we avoided eggs, I used Ener G egg replacer or the apple sauce mix that is substituted for like eggs.

These brownies are delicious and they will not make you feel guilty about all the processed flour and saturated fat you ingested.

Note: these brownies have a rich robust flavor.  As much as I LOVE chocolate and sweets, I no longer enjoy the flavor of processed brownies-they have a thin flavor.

As I’m writing this blog, I hear on a heart disease focused show that the #1 killer in the U.S. is heart disease, and half of us will die from it.  We cannot control everything (genetics, stress, jobs, etc.), but we can control what we eat and put in our bodies.

Recipe

Ingredients:

Soy butter to grease pan

Flour (organic whole wheat pastry) to dust the buttered pan

4 large eggs

1 cup organic cane sugar sifted

1 cup brown sugar sifted

8 ounces of melted soy stick

1 ¼ cups of cocoa sifted

2 tsp. vanilla extract

½ cup of organic whole-wheat pastry flour

½ tsp. kosher salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.  Soy butter and flour an 8-inch square pan.

In a mixer, beat the eggs at medium speed until fluffy (sort of frothy) and light yellow.  Add both sugars (gradually.  Add the remaining ingredients (gradually) and mix to combine.

Pour the batter into the soy buttered and floured pan (I actually forgot to flour the no stick pan and it still worked) and bake for 45 minutes.  Use the toothpick method (insert and see if it’s clear) to make sure it’s done.  In my convection oven, it finished in about 40 minutes. 

Cool thoroughly.  I sifted powdered sugar on top while hot.  It could also be frosted with a Spectrum based frosting (after it cooled).  I was too tired with an impatient child to make frosting.  These were also delicious the next day…..the flavors combined perfectly.

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Are food allergies, diets and being different causing alienation?

Jordan

Today’s Chicago Tribune actually had two articles about the increase in food allergies and the social impact on kids as they try to fit in.  Some of the ‘ways around’ were also discussed.  As I was reading this article, I realized similar issues exist when you are an adult avoiding certain foods.  While cross contamination is not an issue for an adult who chooses a healthy diet, it is a choice, not something you were dealt (food allergies, celiac, eosinophilic esophagitis), some of the socially alienating issues still apply.  Of course the degree of alienation is not as extreme as for a food allergic child or teen who really wants  to fit in.  Additionally, it’s very different to deal with something out of choice vs. what life has dealt you. And a trace of dairy won’t kill me, but it can kill (or at least make very ill) someone who is truly allergic or has EE.

Even if you are not dealing with these issues directly, a little compassion and understanding goes a long way.  Pity or sympathy is not what you should offer.  Don’t break the person’s spirit and make them feel like they are less than you.  Although well intended, I hear “Oh poor Jordan, he can’t eat normal food, what can he eat?”  First of all, he is not poor; his diet is superior to the typical child his age who can live on convenience processed foods.  As a result, he is less likely to develop health problems form processed food and yes, the evil casein.    These two common situations really apply in all food situations-whether by choice or not (some people try to eat healthy although their friends like them unhealthy).

Restaurant situations  - Jordan can only eat in one restaurant right now at least 20 miles from our home (P.F. Chang so far seems to be the only place that can handle cross-contamination).  And even then there is always the speech to the manager and the tension that something will get messed up.  But it’s worth it to see the look on Jordan’s face that shows ‘yes I’m normal too and can eat out.’  So what can friends and family do to not make things worse?  First, no pity.  Being considerate and not bragging about how great their dish is that contains the allergen is much better.  For example, a friend or colleague should not brag about how great a certain cheese tastes when there is a person with a dairy allergy sitting at the table.  Common sense?  Not really…. I’ve had ‘friends’ that have tried ‘tempt me’ with dairy laden desserts in front of Jordan.  I chose not to eat it, Jordan can’t.  We’re not telling people not to eat dairy and we don’t go into a lengthy speech how unhealthy it is; free will.  However when I encounter such a situation, I’m forced to go into detail about why I chose not to have casein from a factory farmed cow who is forced to stand in its own feces. It’s not good for the cow and it’s not good for me (but good for ConAgra).

School functions – for some reason everything in school is rewarded with dairy (pizza and ice cream).  You reach a goal, time for a pizza party.  Actually it’s the same thing in corporate America.  Want people to come to a special lunch meeting?  Order pizza.  Not much consideration of the fact that we aren’t all alike.  As an adult who chooses not to eat dairy (it does make me somewhat sick, but I won’t die from it), I’m used to it and ignore it.   A vegan, food allergy person, or even someone on a strict Kosher diet cannot have pepperoni pizza.  And the so-called ‘vegetarian pizza’ doesn’t solve the dairy or gluten issue.  So for school functions I run my parallel kitchen and send treats to class that everyone can have so Jordan can feel normal; finally eating what everyone can eat.  I stay up all night baking but it’s worth it; the kids always love what I send.  They don’t even think that there is no dairy in those cookies, cupcakes or popcorn.   They go back for seconds and Jordan loves every second of this-feeling normal again.  Adults at parties are a bit different.  They can say “Oh how can you have such and such with no dairy?” “Oh how awful it must be to be you.”  “Oh this pizza is delicious; I feel so bad for you.” They form expectations that a dish with no dairy or whatever allergen is going to be bland and boring.  So with adults, I don’t even announce that there is no dairy (or whatever allergen) in whatever dish.  Of course if they thought about it, seeing Jordan eating obviously implies that it doesn’t have the offending allergen.

So building awareness among friends, family, school and work is the best one can do regardless of what your role is in this food-driven world.

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